


14- Betrayal

by Viscariafields



Series: FAM2k18 [4]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Betrayal, fam2k18, fenris appreciation month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-17 21:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16982097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viscariafields/pseuds/Viscariafields
Summary: After the fight with the Arishok, Fenris justifies his decision in offering Hawke up for one on one combat.





	14- Betrayal

“Why’d you do it?”

Fenris glanced up at the dwarf storming down the steps toward him. He turned back to the fire. If Anders had not left the room to attempt to kill him by now, Hawke was going to be fine.

“You volunteered her,” Varric growled, “Against the Arishok.”

Fenris nodded. He remembered.

“Don’t tell me you thought she couldn’t lose. You’ve seen the Qunari fight!”

“And I’ve seen  _her_  fight.” And he had been ready, ready for the first sign she couldn’t do it. He could take the three Qunari that stood in his way, and by the time he was done, Varric would have started shooting the others. Anders’ decisions were always a mystery, but it was likely he would have made himself useful while Fenris took out the Arishok. He’d had a plan.

“I know things have been rough between you, but this… Why’d you do it?”

Plans didn’t really work around Hawke. He’d had a plan when he came to Kirkwall, too. Four years later and he was still here. And while he would not say it even to himself, so long as Hawke was here, he would not leave. Frozen like the Qunari in a prison of his own making.

Hawke had speed, agility, precision, and the Arishok had power. Her initial cuts didn’t even slow him down. But he couldn’t get a hit in as she dodged and ran. Fenris knew she’d beat him.

“She needed to know.” Fenris tried to think through what he meant. “She needed to know she could win.”

Her father, her brother—they had died before Fenris met her. He knew she took the blame for their deaths. She was saddled with the responsibility for her entire family, and she lost them one by one. Her sister was forfeited to the Grey Wardens. Her mother murdered. Without them she had become untethered.

“Hawke knows how to win, elf, or haven’t you been paying attention for the last three years?”

“She doesn’t. Not anymore. She couldn’t save her mother, or help you with your brother. She can’t save Merrill from herself, or Anders.”

“Or you.”

Fenris nodded. “Or me.”

The Arishok was dead, but his body didn’t know it yet. Hawke drew her dagger from his artery, blood spraying, and he landed a final blow. She flew across the room, hitting a pillar and crumpling. But she had stood back up, victorious, and the Arishok had stayed down.

Fenris stared at his hands. “She could save Isabela. She saved the entire city. And I knew she couldn’t lose.”

A new title bestowed on her, and she had excused herself before the celebration had even started. She did not get far. Fenris found her vomiting blood in an empty corridor.

“They’ll still leave if I die here, right? Qunari honor?” she choked out, a smile on her bloodstained face, “Or would they call it a draw? Shortest lived champion in history.”

“Wait here,” he had said, as if she were in a state to go anywhere. Thankfully Anders arrived, already trying to slip out, and they carried her through Hightown to her estate. The apostate berated him all the way, and for once he agreed with the man. He had almost gotten Hawke killed. She could still die. His decision was  _right_ , but it still turned out so wrong. 

“You’re not nearly a good enough gambler for that kind of call, elf.”

Hawke’s door creaked open before Fenris could respond. Anders strode out of the room.

“She’ll live, no thanks to you.”

Fenris nodded. “I should go then.”

“You’re not going to stay? Wait for her to get up?” Varric asked.

“Or, I don’t know, apologize for trying to kill her? Death by Arishok?”

Fenris ignored them. Hawke didn’t need his apologies or his presence.  He had thought that an audacious triumph over the Arishok might… it didn’t matter what he thought. His words bound her to a fight that nearly killed her. His decisions, his actions—they were  _bad_ for her. Whatever Hawke needed, Fenris didn’t have it. He left. 

**Author's Note:**

> I am posting this a day early because i am cranky and it is finished.


End file.
